Ring of Spies

A British spy thriller; A story about a British navy clerk assigned to a top secret research facility where he is blackmailed into stealing vital secrets in exchange for cash. A film set during the height of the Cold War and based on true events of the Portland Spy Ring, where daily duels play out between Soviet intelligence and British counter-espionage. Tension is undermined by a docudrama style, though the playout of the espionage activities is absorbing. Bernard Lee performs well, but his character is not sympathetic, and his cohort, played by Margaret Tyzack, is also drawn to things venal without much struggle, so it ends up being a drawn-out morality tale.

Cinéphiles could be forgiven for never having heard of Robert Tronson as he is mainly known for his work on the small screen but with a limited budget and without the customarily dramatic score, he has done a pretty good job here and uses the understated, docudrama treatment to great effect. There is nothing in the least glamorous about the activities of the infamous five members of the Portland spy ring and you certainly won't catch any of the cast 'acting'.

It is said to be based on factual events but this is true only up to a point. Harry Houghton was far from being the amiable boozer played so superbly by Bernard Lee but was in fact a seedy, scurrilous individual who would peddle anything for money and who beat up his wife. Her character is completely absent from the film which is an oversight as she it was who wrote three letters to the Admiralty alerting them that her husband was divulging secret information for cash. Through a combination of misogyny and sheer incompetence her letters were dismissed by MI5 as the ravings of a jealous and disgruntled wife. Likewise, suspicions of Houghton and his partner Elisabeth Gee were not aroused by their so-called extravagant lifestyle but by a tip off from a Polish spy that there was a 'mole' in the Admiralty named Horton or thereabouts. This episode has been completely omitted which further robs the film of dramatic effect. It is entirely possible that writers Launder and Barnes were hamstrung by legal constraints and one can only afford them the benefit of the doubt. The film is not without ironic Anglo-Saxon humour with two female intelligence officers dressed as nuns and Houghton, Gee and their contact Lonsdale obliged to stand for the National Anthem.

The location work is excellent even down to the house in Ruislip where the Cohens, alias the Krogers, conducted their traitorous activities. There is a convincing performance by William Sylvester as Konon Molody, alias Gordon Lonsdale whose slick persona provides a perfect cover and who succeeds in convincing the naive Gee that she is spying for the Americans! She is played by Margaret Tyzack and she is so good in this that one wonders why better film parts did not come her way.

Ironically, although Houghton and Gee received the shortest sentences of the five, they ended up serving the longest terms as the other three were all released as part of an exchange deal with the Soviets. All three achieved the dubious distinction of appearing on Soviet postage stamps. By all accounts Molody was unhappy in Russia and died in mysterious circumstances so in his case the punishment fitted the crime.

Where the film is spot on is in depicting the lamentable lack of security at the Underwater Weapons Establishment and the deep affection between Houghton and Gee who were married on their release from prison.

As for the film, its release was delayed for 'legal reasons' and limited for fear of prosecution. One can only assume that the verbose and faintly ludicrous disclaimer at the end is a classic piece of ****covering designed to deter potential lawsuits.

Based on true facts, the plot narrates without many embellishments, frills and thrills the downfall of Henry Houghton an alcoholic Navy Clerk.

After having been sent back to England in disgrace, from his post at the British Embassy in Warsaw, Houghton decides to take revenge and sell military secrets to Lonsdale, a man he believes to be an American agent.

Lonsdale is actually a Russian spy, connected with a couple of minor key players also located in London. The last member of the ring is Elizabeth Gee, a spinster secretary convinced by Houghton to collaborate with him in exchange for substantial payments that afford some luxuries to the couple.

It is exactly the more affluent lifestyle to raise suspicions and get the Houghton/Gee couple under surveillance. Way more believable than any James Bond story.

This film is well worth watching as it illustrates perfectly how the poorly paid British in secret organisations were and probably still are susceptible to turning spies for a few hundred pounds.

The two spies had combined wages of about £30 which was not much above poverty level.

Street and car scenes are very nicely done and show how basic UK cars were and how everything was still dirty and sooty from all the steam trains and inefficient engines.

Old Bernard Lee is poorly cast as a romantic lead.

Solid British stuff looking in great detail at the motives and characters that make up a spy ring. The detail is wholly believable and the film has a strong cast of British character actors, particularly here - Bernard Lee.